It is amazing to think of how far the technology in cars has come. From Henry Ford’s Model T in 1908 to driverless cars in 2018, car manufacturers are always inventing new ways to use technology to better the driving experience. Vehicles now have the ability to allow drivers to control the car via touch screen. Other vehicles allow drivers to access GPS navigation directions, play music, listen to the radio, and more, all on a screen within the car. About one in three U.S. adults uses “infotainment” systems like these while they while driving. These advances in car technology are meant to make the driving experience more intuitive and efficient, but are these infotainment systems safe?

Driving Blind

According to a study commissioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA), infotainment systems may be putting drivers, passengers, other motorists, and pedestrians at serious risk. Because infotainment systems take drivers’ eyes and attention off the road and hands off the wheel for potentially dangerous periods of time, they cause drivers to essentially be driving blind. Research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that individuals who use in-vehicle technologies like voice-based and touch screen features were dangerously distracted. The average user of infotainment features is visually and mentally distracted for over 40 seconds when using the system to do things like program navigation, find a radio station, or send a text message. The risk of getting into a car accident doubles by drivers taking their eyes off the road for only 2 seconds, and infotainment users are distracted for 20 times that long!

When a driver causes an accident because he or she was talking or texting on his or her cell phone, he or she is not likely to admit the truth to the police officer on the scene. Instead, it is often left to investigators and others working on behalf of the injured victim to prove that the at-fault driver was distracted at the time of the crash. Recent procedural changes in Connecticut, however, have made it easier for claimants to address distracted driving concerns following an accident.

New Interrogatory Questions

Beginning on January 1, 2017, the Judicial Branch of the State of Connecticut amended the standard questionnaire—known as interrogatories—that injured victims send to defendants (and vice versa) during the discovery phase of car accident cases. For the first time, both parties in such a case must answer under oath prior to trial whether they “were using a cell phone for any activity including, but not limited to, calling, texting, e-mailing, posting, tweeting, or visiting sites on the Internet for any purpose, at or immediately prior to the time of the incident.”

Mobile cellular technology is absolutely amazing. Evolving from battlefield radio communication devices used during World War II, the first consumer cell phone hit the global market in 1983. Produced by Motorola, the first cellular phone was bulky, expensive, and would die after just 30 minutes of talk time. In the three decades since, we have seen tremendous advances in the communications industry, with cell phones now being able to fit comfortably in a pocket and maintain a charge for days at a time. Today, however, cell phones have also become a source of danger, especially when they are used by individuals who are driving a car or truck. While using a hand-held cell phone while driving is illegal in many states, including Connecticut, many drivers cannot put their phones down, contributing to many unnecessary accidents, injuries, and deaths.

Seriously Injured Couple Settles

In late 2016, a New Britain couple agreed to a $1.3 million settlement to close their claim against a man who allegedly caused their injuries by texting while driving. While the man reportedly admitted fault for the March 2014 accident, he refuted the claims that he was texting behind the wheel. The man’s attorney said that cell phone records show that the driver had not been texting for at least 30 minutes prior to the crash. The defendant claimed that his phone rang, and he looked down at it. By the time he looked back up, the man’s lawyer said, it was too late, and he crashed into the couple’s vehicle.

When you hear the phrase “distracted driving,” what comes to mind? Do you picture a teenager in the driver’s seat with one hand on the wheel and the other on a cell phone typing out a text message? Over the last decade or so, texting while driving has become synonymous with distracted driving, and states all over the country, including Connecticut, have enacted laws to prohibit sending and receiving messages while driving. There are, however, countless other ways for a driver to be distracted and, while many of them are perfectly legal, a distracted driver is always dangerous, as even a single moment’s inattention can lead to a serious car accident.

Staggering Numbers

According to estimates from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly one out of every five injury-causing auto accidents in the United States involves at least one distracted driver. While one in five may not sound like very many, this number equates to an average of 1,160 injuries and eight fatalities every single day as a result of distracted driving accidents. Recent studies show that more than 90 percent of drivers realize the dangers of distracted driving, yet the statistics suggest that millions continue to ignore the risks behind the wheel.